Yankees Acquire Veteran Left-Hander Jeff Francis From Oakland

Jeff Francis, then of the Cincinnati Reds, throws a pitch during the second game of a doubleheader against the San Diego Padres at Great American Ball Park on May 15, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Jeff Francis, then of the Cincinnati Reds, throws a pitch during the second game of a doubleheader against the San Diego Padres at Great American Ball Park on May 15, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Desperate for anything resembling pitching, the Yankees looked West on Friday and found some relief.

With 80 percent of their rotation on the disabled list and some of their valued relievers in danger of being overworked, the Bombers acquired 33-year-old southpaw Jeff Francis from the Oakland Athletics.

Tanaka’s injury is by far the biggest blow to a starting five that has already lost Ivan Nova (Tommy John surgery), CC Sabathia (degenerative knee) and Michael Pineda (back). The 25-year-old rookie released a statement on Friday, which said in part: “I want to apologize to the Yankees organization, my teammates and our fans for not being able to help during this time. I accept this injury as a challenge, but I promise to do everything I can to overcome this setback and return to the mound as soon as possible.”

Francis was selected No. 9 overall by the Colorado Rockies in the 2002 first-year player draft and went 44-32 over his first three seasons before arm problems set in. He has since pitched for Kansas City, Cincinnati and Oakland, and is 70-80 with a 4.95 ERA over 10 major league seasons.

Francis went 0-1 with a 6.08 ERA in 13 1/3 innings for the A’s before being designated for assignment on July 3.

I'm not predicting anything about McCarthy, Francis, or anyone else that comes here in wks ahead. But who had Aaron Small going 10-0 in '05?

Francis will likely be used as both a reliever and spot starter. Matt Thornton, who was signed during the offseason to be the Yankees’ lefty specialist, had allowed just one run over his previous 19 appearances before allowing two earned in one-third of an inning during the Yankees’ 9-3 loss in Cleveland on Thursday night.

The Yankees (46-45) were to open a three-game series in Baltimore against the AL East-leading Orioles on Friday night.